Back in 2018, I discovered my passion for the kitchen while interning at Mary Jane’s Farm in Moscow, Idaho. At the age of 16, I was beginnin my summer days 7-9 am muckin cow pens, then 9-5 either in the design studio or the test kitchen, developing recipes, shooting staged photos of my food, & editing photos. I then began working at Lodgepole in May of 2019. With zero restaurant experience & a desire to work in the kitchen (I specifically wanted to make desserts for Lodgepole), I was hired as a FOH support member. I bussed tables, kept customers’ glasses full, & of course polished silver & glass. I quickly took up the hosting position and eventually summer 2019 I was working as a server. I loved working as a server; the hustle bustle, the juggle of happy & moody customers, the stories and connections with customers, the fake smiles, the genuine smiles, etc… My time at Lodgepole was unfortunately interrupted by the pandemic, and I returned to Mary Jane’s Farm March 2020. I developed a handful of new backpacking food recipes & packed dry camping food more than full time as people panicked and purchased copious amounts of emergency food.

Come June 2020, I was back at Lodgepole (& still working at Mary Jane’s), and I was in the open kitchen on pantry. I would show up to work at noon, prep, work service; slangin' salads, meat n cheese boards, desserts, and eventually, I’d close. I picked up expediting too, I very much enjoyed directing the flow of the kitchen during service, helping other chefs with plating, & being the primary communication between FOH & BOH.

Summer of 2021 I was taught how to make the tartine demibaguette by the then sous chef, Liz. Then, August 2021 I took over the pastry chef position, crafting the dessert menu & baking all of the bread for Lodgepole. My first dessert I ever created was an incredibly simple summer berry tart with a vanilla pastry cream, hazelnuts, strawberry, & blueberry sauce. While technically yes, I did truly hold the title of head pastry chef from the get go because no one else was making desserts, I did not feel as if I fully owned that title at Lodgepole until I created my cajeta mousse & huckleberry dessert for 2022 WSU & UI grad weekends. Fast forward to Spring 2023, and I rolled out my cajeta mousse with grilled & bruleed pineapple, coconut marshmallow & tuile, & a coconut rum fluid gel for 2023 WSU & UI grad weekends.

I moved to Chicago in late October 2023 & joined the circus. During my Chicago time, I created a pastry program & small team where we slang 100-300 desserts per night allllllll at once! Mastering high volume was certainly challenging, but was beyond gratifying. Majority of my circus work is not on display here yet. Sadly, my time working in Chicago ended November 30th 2025 with the discovery of my brain cancer; stage 3 anaplastic astrocytoma. I have since returned to the Moscow, Idaho area to be with family and friends during these excruciating times of medical tragedy.

Though my health has a lot of ups & downs with monthly chemo, I still am eager to continue sharing sweet things with folks of the community here. If you are interested in cakes or sweets, reach out to me via vanenkevortalex@gmail.com.